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Occidental College Resolves Title IX Investigation

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Occidental College has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to resolve an ongoing sexual violence and sexual harassment complaint investigation, the department announced Thursday.

Prior to the end of the investigation, the college agreed to develop mandatory training for staff and faculty and to review three years of case files to ensure that the college is “providing a prompt and equitable process.” The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights found “insufficient evidence that the college violated Title IX’s requirement to provide an equitable grievance process over the four-year period (2010-2014) OCR examined,” but OCR did find that some sexual assault complaints were resolved in an untimely fashion.

“OCR’s investigation found a campus actively engaged in important work to satisfy Title IX responsibilities for all students,” Catherine Lhamon, the department's assistant secretary for civil rights, said. “Where we had concerns, Occidental leaders committed to taking appropriate steps to ensure student safety. I am grateful for Occidental’s responsiveness during the course of the investigation, as well as its commitment to its students.”